The IQS Wellness Programme Reaches New Heights and Consolidates Its Impact

The Wellness Programme that IQS offers to its staff takes a comprehensive approach to health and wellness based on different lines of action: body awareness, emotional and stress management, healthy and conscious nutrition, and responsible practices in various areas of daily health. This approach seeks to provide employees with a space for disconnection and self-care, as well as providing them with new resources and knowledge to improve their wellbeing and quality of life, both personally and professionally.

So far throughout academic year 23-24, thanks to the Woman Excellence team, a Breast Self-Examination Workshop has been held for women with the aim of learning about early screening for breast cancer. Moreover, a self-defence workshop has been organized that was offered to the entire staff, taught by the Paralympic judokas Sara de Piniés and Marta Arce. Held during disability week thanks to the Eurofirms Foundation, the workshop aimed to provide participants with resources that allow them to gain confidence and security, as well as to transform the stereotypes associated with functionally diverse people.

In addition, IQS has incorporated the practice of yoga into its Wellness Programme as a new feature. This new proposal reinforces the objective of caring for physical wellbeing and body-mind balance for participants, along with contributing to a positive and healthy environment within the work environment.

The sessions, which are held weekly, are taught in person by certified instructors who belong to the asTara – Wellbeing and Development team and have extensive experience in yoga practice and teaching.

The launch of this new activity has been tremendously positive, with a large number of participants who have expressed their satisfaction with this initiative that not only reinforces a sense of belonging and commitment between IQS and its employees, but also the message and external image that the entity wishes to convey, aligned with modernity, responsibility, and the desire to be a reference for other entities and organizations.

Taking care of employee wellness has been an integral part of the university’s HR policy for years, and represents a key aspect that has been incorporated into our latest Strategic Plan. Employees have had a very positive reaction to the wellness programme since the very beginning, which has made it possible to incorporate new approaches and proposals into the different editions of the programme.

IQS first launched a Comprehensive Wellness Programme for the institution’s employees in academic year 21-22, with the aim of promoting habits and resources for the proper management of physical, mental, emotional, and nutritional wellbeing. It was carried out by asTara – Wellbeing and Development as a pilot project.

Thanks to the positive reception and appreciation of the initiative, in academic year 22-23, IQS decided to continue offering its staff the Wellness Programme. In addition to the Comprehensive Wellness Programme that had previously been launched as a pilot project, IQS added other specific activities aimed at positively influencing awareness about various healthy habits, such as the Conference on Proper Sleep Management given by Dr Eduard Estivill.